L'Enveillée
A poetic, theatrical, and musical piece exploring death and its rites
Premiere on March 31, 2026, at Le Lieu Unique, Scène nationale de Nantes
- Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes, followed by a discussion with the audience
- Acoustic performance
- 4 performers on stage
- Maximum capacity: 150–180 people
- Suitable for all types of venues, dedicated or non-dedicated
People mourn death. Everywhere and for as long as we can remember, men and women have mourned death. And in their tears, in their lamentations, and in the words they address to those who have passed away, they infuse rhythm, melody, and music.
And the weeping becomes song.
And the song carries the weeping.
And the weeping is transformed.
On a floor of rough sheets, four voices rise—in their breath, in their nakedness. No recorded music, no artifice: the song comes from the body, from memory, from presence. L’Enveillée is a performance on the edge of the sacred, nourished by a profound meditation on death and its rites. Through this vibrant composition, Juliette Kempf explores our relationship to passing: what remains when the breath fades? What do we convey by singing alongside the dead? Far from pathos, this poetic theater seeks the essence of ritual: to console, to connect, to transform. An intimate, sensory journey—from cry to calm, from tears to renewal—where the audience is invited to keep vigil—as well—over its own humanity.
see
teaser court - L'Enveillée
Premiere on March 31, 2026, at Le Lieu Unique, Scène nationale de Nantes
- Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes, followed by a discussion with the audience
- Acoustic performance
- 4 performers on stage
- Maximum capacity: 150–180 people
- Suitable for all types of venues, dedicated or non-dedicated
cast
- Concept, Writing, Direction: Juliette Kempf
- Performers: Roxane Palazzotto, Sylvain Manet, Victor Parente, Carole Verhaeghe
- Vocal coaching: Sylvain Manet
- Lighting: Isabelle Ardouin
- Costumes: Pauline Bourguignon
- Ceramics: Nicolas Barbera
partners
- Le lieu unique – Scène nationale de Nantes
- Musée d’ethnographie de Genève
- La Maison de Nicodème, Nantes
- Association Hetsika
- Cosmopolis
- Ville de Nantes
- Département de Loire-Atlantique
- FDVA
- Fondation Stin’Akri
- Fondation Reine Reinette
- ADAMI
- SPEDIDAM
- 25/09/2026 : La Souterraine
- 03/12/2026 : Marseille
- 04/12/2026 : Marseille
- 05/12/2026 : Marseille
- 10/12/2026 : Mons (B)
upcoming dates
press review
- RADIO (Suisse):
Réflexions de la mort en musique, RTS (sur L'Enveillée à 30') - ARTICLE (Suisse):
La mort, le visible et l'invisible, Le Courrier - ARTICLE (Madagascar):
Rites et chants funéraires malgaches
© Bastien Capela
related works and publications
Had we forgotten that we knew nothing? Had we forgotten the moment of the great unknown—the one that awaits us all, each and every one of us, whose approaching blows we macabrely count down each evening? Certainly not; how could we forget that we are welcomed here, on this Earth, our sister, only temporarily? How could we forget that the pact—the only one that matters—has been clear from the beginning, from the moment of our arrival: there will be a departure.
Yes, it was an encounter with Madagascar that took place. Three and a half weeks is not much time in such a rich land—just as it would have been in any new land. But the encounter, though brief, was intense, beautiful, stirring, and instructive. We were able to have two major experiences, and it is these that I will try to tell you about. Each of these experiences unfolded through several encounters. The first was witnessing the famadihana ritual in the Highlands, generally translated as “turning of the dead.” The second was getting up close and personal with traditional …
